It was later; I was walking along the banks of the lake, my heart aching for Raoul. I was consumed with worry for him, "why was Raoul swimming down here in the first place?" I wondered. "Was he looking for me?" My thoughts were cut off at the sound of Erik's melodious voice. "Christine," he said gently. "It is time for your music lesson." "Very well." I answered reluctantly. I took one last look at the dark waters and then followed him into his house on the underground lake to start our lesson. But for some reason, I could not concentrate, "Christine, did you mean what you said I am not your lover?" Erik asked, not looking at me. "No, no, mon ange." I answered, unsure. I kissed him on the forehead and fought to keep down the bile that rose in my throat. "Do you really love Erik?" I asked myself. "Of course you do, look at all he's done for you," one half of me seemed to say. But the other half seemed to say "He manipulated you into loving him; remember how he yelled at you, saying you belong to him." I shook my head to clear my thoughts as Erik and I continued with the lesson. "Sing, my angel of music, sing for me!" he commanded, and I sang, but I didn't sing for him tonight no, I sang for someone far, far away from me. But as I sang, my mind started to wander again. I was so lost in my thoughts that I accidentally hit a wrong note, "WAIT!" he shouted. His outburst snapped me back into reality, "why did you do that?" he asked.

"Why did I do what?" I asked, dazed.

"Hit that wrong note." he answered. "What is the matter, Christine?"

"I'm not sure," I said, "I guess I didn't get enough sleep last night," I lied.

Then he said lovingly, "perhaps you should take a short rest." I nodded, turned and quickly left the room.
I woke up later, to the sound of someone softly calling my name. "Christine, Christine," for a moment, it sounded exactly like Raoul, so I slowly opened my eyes, hoping to see him there. But no, when I opened my eyes there stood Erik, (he had his mask on at this point) softly asking me to wake up. I sighed as I tried to hide my disappointment, "what time is it?" I asked.

"About four o'clock, you slept for nearly two hours." he said, with practically no emotion at all.

"If Raoul had said it, he'd probably laugh at me a little for sleeping so long during the day." I smiled at the thought. "I shall be out in a few minutes." I told Erik, shooing him out the door. Once it was closed, I breathed a sigh of relief, then went into the bathroom to freshen up a bit. I put on a pretty green dress and left my bedroom to meet Erik for dinner.
For the first few minutes it was so quiet you could hear a dust mite sneeze from its own dust. "So did you have a good rest, dear?" Erik asked, breaking the silence. "Oh yes, thank you." I answered sweetly. We sat in silence for a few more minutes and then I said "This dinner is very good, how did you learn to cook so well?" "When someone lives alone, they have to learn to do things such as cooking." he answered with a small smile. Seeing him smile made me feel a little better (he hardly ever smiles, at least not around me.) After dinner, we sat at the fireplace for a little while and then I said "I think I'll retire now, good night." I got up, walked over to him and gave him a small kiss on his forehead (bile did not rise in my throat this time,) once I was in my room I dressed and went to bed. I fell asleep easily with nothing but thoughts of Raoul filled my head. The last thing I could hear was him singing "Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime..."